


Give and Take Away

by Kayla_van_loser



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Celtic Mythology & Folklore, Cute, F/M, Fairy Tale Elements, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gift Giving, Light Angst, Love, Marriage
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-26 13:01:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18717601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kayla_van_loser/pseuds/Kayla_van_loser
Summary: In the forests of Ireland, Callum meets a beautiful young girl, Rayla, a Fae. Smitten and lured in by her charm, Cullum sets to work in order to gather gifts and win her trust and, perhaps love. Will this be enough to win her over and compel her to become his bride?(Based this off of Celtic Faerie lore. Not 100% accurate but I love Fae and have had this idea for a while.)





	1. Chapter 1

** Chapter One **

 

She wrung three of her four fingers in her left palm, a motion of anxiety as she walked.

Sixteen years she had lived mostly care free, practicing her lesser fae magic and living with her mother and human wet nurse. Only two weeks ago she had reached the age of full maturity and thus was meant to take a human lover to continue her Trooper bloodline.

Troopers were all at least half human. She and many others had been born amongst humans only to be whisked away back into Faerieland with their parents; the ones who hadn't been enslaved by their once caring spouses. Rayla shuddered at the thought of never getting to leave such a cruel place.

It would be easy to lure a young nobleman into her trap of false love with her symmetrical beauty, though she didn't know if it would truly be fake on her part. She had been raised to be kind and to take only the kindest man whom bestowed her with many gifts. Her mother told her it had to take place to prove dedication on the humans part, but internal conflict rose within her. How could she manipulate a man who showed such requited love and proceed to leave him alone? Furthermore, what if her husband did betray her like many others had? Her anxiety rose at these questions for weeks and it only strengthened now.

As she walked down the dirt path that lead to the gate between the two realms, Rayla's mind began to wander, which was often a rather bad thing. While she traversed the the labyrinth of her mind, a question leaped out at her. 'What do you know?' Rayla tripped over nothing and stopped to take back her stolen breath.

"Nothing." A breathless mumble fell from her lips to answer her minds question as she allowed her body to go limp and follow the word into the dirt.

No amount of fidgeting could calm Rayla's pounding heart as the dagger of realization embedded itself within her. Her first thought was to turn back and face her mother's scolding, at least she knew what was coming back at home. She could wait, study, cower in fear in a dusty library for months and regret.

Her strong pride and solemn word took over and kept her in her place on the ground. Rayla's mind went into overdrive. Planning a solution, creating a map to follow once she arrived to her destination.

Humans had libraries, surely. After all they weren't much different from elves in terms of mental capacity and body structure. This was the only thing that she knew of humans and one of the reasons those of her kind were able to infiltrate their sociaty for so many years unnoticed. Her mother had always found it funny how naive they were.

After many minutes of planning and slow, rhythmic breathing Rayla had a plan set in place in her mind and had managed to calm her nerves. Once on the other side of the gate she would waste no time in finding a town, one that had a library preferably. She figured a few days of reading would fill in the blanks on humans and their culture. Finally she could do what she had been sent to do. In her mind it only took a week, it seemed doable and quite practical.With a final breath Rayla stood, brushed the dirt from her long cloak and continued down the short length left between her and her worst nightmare.

The guards that protected the gates were strict and a terrifying force to be recond with, but they had been alerted of Rayla's arrival and so most of their strict demeanor was not there. Most. She quickly gave her name and purpose of her crossing and the head guard, a dark, muscular male gave the signal to allow her through. As Rayla made her move forward toward the gate she felt his hard, chocolate eyes on her; powerful and stern. Any wrong move here and he would throw all of his guards strength on her and though she was not guilty of anything, she gulped.

Slowly the light birch doors cracked open and swung out from the golden frame. Rayla felt gold was to big a spectacle of something that was meant to be out of sight, but it didnt burn the Fae's skin and it was strong and held the heavy doors in place. The great barricade creaked and cracked as if they hadn't been opened in decades, when in fact they had been opened this morning to allow a set of guards through.

Fae were very particular about not letting humans in unless they wanted them in and so guards watched both sides of every gate day and night. The forest on the other side of the door came into view behind a sheen of glitter that looked like a shimmering waterfall. It looked so much like home it made her almost uncomfortable, nevertheless once the doors stopped with a dull bang she stepped under the sheen and into the small clearing before her.

Almost as soon as she was clear of the doors they closed once again making her feel locked out and exiled from her only home. She turned to watch the spectacle only to see an old birch tree that was split into two symmetrical trunks in the centre near the base with nothing between it but the distant trees of the rest of the forest. Though the creaking was still heard, she only knew the door was there and closed when another bang shook the white tree slightly.

Rayla pulled the hood of her cloak; the only possession she had been allowed to take with her that wouldn't give up her facade, over her horns. Something she had been to worried to do under the close watch of the guards.

She next pulled a small vial out of a hidden pocket within the cloak, it was filled with a shimmering, liquid looking substance that resembled the gates veil. This was what Fae called 'Glamour' and when applied it altered a Fae's appearance depending on potency.

Glamour was hard to describe, it looked like water, but was dry and tart and felt like you really were drinking air. This was the second reason Fae did so well infiltrating human sociaty and the single method of hiding their precious gates. Rayla just needed it to hide her horns and make a fifth finger seem to be present on her hands, but it could create more drastic changes.

Fae often used strong glamours in order to hide weak or dying Fae, know as changelings, in the human realm as well.

She pulled on the cork and it easily came out of the opening with a small pop she then pressed the smooth glass to her lips and drank. She only needed about half of the small bottle as it would last her roughly a year, unless she returned. Glamour didnt work in her realm of Faerieland, the Solitary Fae, capable of high levels of magic made sure of it.

Solitary Fae were the opposite of a Trooper, they had no social structure, were rude and never bothered with the affairs of them nore humans, really. Their blood and magic was pure. They lived alone, mostly and when bothered by anyone, they went crazy and could do a qreat amount of damage.

After Rayla pressed the cork firmly back in place and and slid the bottle into her hidden pocket she looked down at her hands. The fake fifth finger had already appeared. She scowled at it, so strange and bulky. So increadably human. She pulled her hands back into her cloak and instead looked up and into the sky. To her surprise, she could see smoke from where she stood at the gate. A town was closer than she had thought and she was filled with hope that her plans would not take as long as she had originally thought. Making it home was top priority to her and that smoke brought her a feeling of joy that she hadn't felt in a week.

Rayla started off toward the billowing smoke with great vigour and a small smile that she hadn't noticed had spread across her pale face. Her 'glamour'us hands balled into tight, uncomfortable fists at the end if her wildly swinging arms as she made her way swiftly thought the forest. Rayla was able to navigate around obstacles with assasin-like agility, thus she made great time and traveled in a nearly straight line toward the smoke.

Rayla leaped into a low hanging branch of a young red maple tree and even from where she stood many meters out from the ploom, she could smell the hazy gas. From that point on she simply scaled the branches of the trees. She relished in the light, moist air and the cool wind and soft leaves tugging on her hair and clothes. This, to her, was her last taste of freedom. Her last chance to be herself before being forced into an unkind sociaty.

This was taken from her all to soon, though, as she once again looked to the sky and saw the dark ploom close to her and felt the tightness in her throught caused by the scent. She slowly began to make her way down to the ground. It took her a few more small trees until her feet again made contact with the soft soil and a hard... book?

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

 

Rayla was instantly on high alert. She swiveled her head in all directions, scanning they trees, listening for anything that would indicate the approach of unwanted company. But nothing came. No snap of a twig like she expected there to be. There was no sign that anyone had ever been here, other than the leather bound book that her foot rested on as she had been to scared to move it.

Slowly her tense shoulders lowered and relaxed, along with the rest of her body. She slowly removed her foot from the book and compelled by some unknown force she bent down to pick it up.

It was quite heavy as it held not only the papers it was bound with but multiple sheets that had been stuffed amongst the other pages. One of these sheets fell out and fluttered to the ground as she opened to the first page. On it was a pencil sketch of an older man, his hair done up in a bun and a gleaming smile on his face. He wore what seemed to be a crown or perhaps it was just a nice headpiece, though he seemed wise and regal enough to be a king.

Rayla sat underneath a tree next to the fallen page on a mound of moss. She picked up the smudged picture and placed it back in the book from where it had fallen and proceeded to flip through the rest of the books worn pages. There were sketches of a woman, quite pretty for a human with dark hair and kind eyes. A boy with a head of unruly hair and some ugly creature cradled in his arms. He showed up often, she found

Amongst the many drawings of these people, there were intricate drawings of buildings. A large stone castle stood erect in the background of most of them. Perhaps the source of the smoke, she thought, was this town. There were ruins, bubbling streams and rivers, tall trees that came alive on the paper and on the last few pages of the book, a quaint cabin. It had vines crawling up the side of it and double doors leading to what she assumed would be the foyer.

They were all amazing. Each drawing held separate, strong emotions held within the carefully placed led lines. She was amazed that she had just happened upon such talent and beauty held within animal hide. This was her first look into human culture and sociaty and she was captivated by it. If this was what she was traveling to, was it really so bad? She smiled fondly and pressed the book to her chest.

A gasp. "You found it!" A shrill voice came from the trees.

Rayla dropped her smile and went rigged. She had allowed herself to get caught up and she hadn't noticed a young male human come stomping from her left.

"I've been looking for that everywhere." The boy gestured to the book in her hands and smiled.

Rayla couldn't speak, couldn't move. It had been so tranquil here and though she had been looking at people for some time now, she wasn't ready for this one for it was real.

The boy took a step forward and reached slightly towards her and Rayla inched back in response. Apparently he didn't notice her discomfort as he took another step, and another, still with that dorky smile. With his intrusion of her personal bubble she scooted back and pressed herself against the tree behind her. Finally the boy stopped. He looked puzzled.

He laughed nervously, "um, you can't keep it." He said and started to tug at his fingerless gloves. She could tell he was anxious, as she did the exact same thing when she anxious herself.

Rayla slowly nodded. She dug deep and managed to pull together a few words to form a short sentence, "I'm only passing through." She squeaked out, then looked down, ashamed of how weak she sounded.

The boy nodded, his brown hair falling in his eyes slightly and reached out again. "I just need the book and you can keep going." He talked to her like she was a lost puppy now that he had realised her terror and smiled softly, coaxing her to come forward. She did.

She shifted her weight forward and went on to her knees. She dropped the book about a foot away from the boy and recoiled again. He grabbed it quick and held it to his chest almost as tight as she had been and sighed. Rayla studied him.

She figured he was a younger human as he didn't have lines set in his face like the dark man in his book, though didn't look as young as the curly haired boy either. His hair was slightly disheveled, probably from the hike here from wherever he had come from, but it was... cute and his green eyes shone with pride at his recently acquired book. Rayla suddenly found courage to speak up.

"If," she started, then cleared her throught, "If I could be so bold... may I ask your name?" She simply wanted to know the fine illustrator of the pictures she came to love so quickly, but he looked bewildered at the question.

"Callum." The boy, Callum, smiled politely as he spoke his name, "and yours?".

Rayla hadn't really thought about the repercussions of her question, but answered with her name quickly.

Callum didn't ask questions about her noticeably foreign name as she expected him to. He smiled and looked her up and down, which made Rayla a little uncomfortable but she quickly pushed it away.

"It suits you." He stated with his eyes still trained on her.

She could almost see the gears turning in his head, the thoughts and questions coming to the forefront of his mind. Her own mind instantly went to the conclusion that he had figured her out, but that was preposterous. Anyone could be terrified of another sneaking up on them during their light reading; or heavily subversive analyzing. She hadn't given herself away. She wouldn't allow herself to believe she had.

"So where are you 'passing through' to?" Callums question broke her out of her thoughts.

She took a deep breath to speak, "I am in need of a library," she first stated, "I have been traveling most of the day and saw the smoke, which I believed to be a town where I could find one." She finished and smiled awkwardly at him. She found talking to him was becoming progressively easier.

He laughed, "I'm afraid it's not a town, I dont know how you could have suspected that, it's only one smoke stack from our cabin."

Rayla blushed. Maybe she _had_ given herself away.

Callum continued "You could, though, stay here with my brother, Ezran and I. We're here for a vacation at my request and theres a small library in the lodge you can have access to until we head back to town." He smiled.

Rayla cringed a little at his words. Staying with two or more humans durring her study period was not part of the plan... Meeting and talking to one wasn't part of the plan either, but here she was. She frowned. All she needed was directions to the town he spoke of and she could be on her way. A larger library was preferable than a small, leisure one at a lodge.

Rayla politely declined Callums offer. She told him of her need to find a well equipped library with her books on humans; which he corrected to books on anthropology. She instantly knew she had slipped up at that correction. Someone looking to study the topic surely should know the proper name, but she didn't and it had alerted the boy. She pretended not to notice however and continued on. She asked him directions to the town he had previously mentioned and said she could be in her way with that.

Callum, the stubborn boy he was, didnt take well to the response. He went into a long winded speach of kindness and honor and the terrifying, cold, lonely nights outside with something called a 'Banther'. After his bombardment, he calmed. He told her it was a two days walk from here, though conveniently didn't say which direction and that they had many spare rooms she could choose from at the lodge. To leave off his speach, he mentioned being a good son, host and prince.

Rayla perked up slightly at his mention of his high status. Her mind began rushing as it did back home, durring her anxiaty attack. Almost instantly a plan formed in her mind. Perhaps this was a way to kill two birds with one stone. This was easy, close access to a library, though small as well as a way to get closer to this boy and work her Faerie charms. Of course sleeping on cold dirt didnt sound great to her either, so she nodded.

This was fate, she decided. She agreed to Callum's offer of a comfy bed and a few books. Rayla felt confident in this new plan and herself and stood with Callum and they walked side by side back to the lodge.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have plans for 7 chapters as of now, though it may end up becoming more as I tend to travel away from my story lines and it takes longer to get to the point. STAY TUNED!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

 

It was only another ten minutes to the lodge Rayla would be staying in for the week. Callum had tried to make small talk, which Rayla made mostly impossible. To every question she possibly could she gave simple 'yes's' or 'no's' and to all that weren't possible to answer like this she stayed quiet. She had slipped up once but not again.

The exterior of the lodge looked exactly like Callums' drawing. The vines that crawled up the right side of the building were dark green with small flowers budding amongst them. The tall, pointed roof had a small window nestled in the tiles and stones that she hadn't noticed in the drawing. It was quite a beautiful place and she felt bad thinking that the drawing didn't quite do it justice.

She was pulled away from her thoughts and toward the lodge by Callums partially gloved hand. At this realization she quickly pulled away and instantly felt his disappointment. Rayla frowned; she felt bad, which she hadn't really expected. Though this time she didnt enact upon this feeling like she had when discomfort took control. She stayed silent and walked beside Callum through the doors of the lodge and into the small foyer and further in to a cozy seating area.

The fireplace was lit and small flames flicked upward toward the large chimney that was the exteriors largest focal point. It was a nice change from the cool air of the spring evening which she hadn't noticed had sunken into her skin and chilled her. She pulled her cloak tight to her body and gladly took the seat offered to her by Callum next to the fire. The chair was quit large and so she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her cloak around her legs and soaked up the warmth of the fire.

Callum noted Raylas huddled form upon the chair and took it upon himself to go to the cabins kitchen and make a hot cup of tea. After explaining to Rayla where he was going and reluctantly drawing her a map of the cabin; almost certain she wouldn't need it as the cabin wasn't large, he left.

While he was gone Rayla studied the hand drawn map carefully. After memorizing the route to the places kitchen she sifted through the papaers she had been given to look for other rooms; which Callum had labeled upon her request. And escape routes. She took note of every door and scanned for every window that had been etched onto the sheets. She even studied her current surroundings as to make sure he hadn't missed any. She was careful not to miss anything so she would not be stuck here some day. A small bit of anxiety rose in her chest again at the thought.

It was perhaps this fear and anxiety that clouded her mind and allowed her to take the cup from Callums' hand when he had returned.

It wasn't the heat of the tea that scorched her hand and left the pale skin there red and bubbling. It was the iron of which the cup was made. At the smallest contact with Gae skin it left a blister but she had firmly grasped the whole cup in her whole hand. She screamed. The high pitched noise almost deafened Callum and both cups of hot liquid clanged and splashed on the floor.

Rayla grasped her left hand tight against her chest. She squeezed her fist so hard she cut off the flow of blood to her four real fingers. Warm tears streaked down her cheeks. She had never felt pain so fierce and gut wrenching before now and she was sure cutting it off would have been better.

Callum didn't know what to do. He didn't even know what had hurt her so bad. He stood still watching her hold her crippled hand for so long; to long.

Soon Callums' younger brother was heard stomping down the stairs. He stopped just before the railing ended and started at Callum with a fearful look before rushing down the rest of the stairs two at a time. With Ezran grasping at his sleeve Callum broke out of his terrified trance and looked to the boy, worried and then back to Rayla. She was still grasping her hand and Ezran could just barely make out the scorched flesh of it as she readjusted beneath her cloak.

Ezran knew exactly what to do in this situation. He ran off down the hall and to a cupboard that held bandages and a decent amount of of various other first aid supplies. He often fell and scraped his knees while playing "hide and seek" with his glow toad and best friend, Bait and so they kept a generous amount of aid on hand. He grabbed a large handful of bandages and pins to hold them in place from the lowest shelf and some special gel from the next. On the way back he stopped in the kitchen in order to retrieve a clean cloth and a cup of cool water.

Once he was back in the living room, Callum was sitting on the armrest of his new blonde friends chair. He was trying to comfort her and gently went to pull her hand out from the heavy fabric that hung over her shoulders and away from her chest. At his gesture she screamed. She shoved him away with her good hand and kicked her feet at him in a desperate attempt to keep him away. Callum fell from the chair and on to the floor as she crouched on the cushions yelling about 'curses' and 'human scum'. The girls sour words scared Ezran and he was unsure if he really wanted to help her; nonetheless he helped Callum off the floor and stood back with him. They let the blonde girl calm and when she had sat back in her chair Ezran approached.

Rayla recoiled in her seat and scowled at Ezran. This had been the worst idea she had ever had. She really should have stayed home; she would rather regret and still lay in the safety of her home than this. She wanted to run; the door was only down a short hallway but they were to close, they would grab at her as she attempted to rush past. All she could do was squirm away from the small boy that approached her. Ezran mustered a smile and presented the first aid supplies that were tucked in his arms.

At the sight of an iron cup, similar to the one that had scarred her she lashed out a leg in the boys direction. "You keep that ghastly thing away from me or you're going down with your friend here." She spat. She was so blinded with fear and hatred that she hadn't noticed his features from Callums many drawings.

It was Ezrans turn to recoil and frown. How could his brother befriend such an insensitive creature and bring it back here? He wanted to yell back at the spiteful words but thus would get ththeththem nowhere. If Callum wanted this 'friend' better or out he needed to mend the scorched hand. He took a deep breath.

"I know it hurts," he started sympathetically, "but you need help and I can't give that help to you if you're going to be so mean." He presented his first aid again.

"The cup goes." She stated "And once you're done I go too."

Ez nodded. He kind of wanted her gone.

It still took another minute or two of reassurance and detailed descriptions of the pieces of supplies until Rayla slowly pulled her hand from her protective bundle of fabric and out to the boy. It looked terrible and Ezran winched at the sight of her mangled hand. Slowly he leaned down to place his supplies on the large, red rug and grabbed the tub of gel. After unscrewing the lid he slid his small, dark hand under Rayla's larger once pale now deep red one. He told her to prepare for a manageable amount of stinging to occur after he applied the cream. She nodded and he aplied a small amount to her hand before going back for more and spread the second blob around too.

As Ez aplied the gel he couldn't help but notice that the creamy white blisters and deep red didn't extend to the girls pinky finger. It was soft and and was still an unblemished ivory tone. It was to perfect to be on such a damaged hand but he forced the thought to the edge of his mind and kept going. He would come back to it later.

Rayla winced. It did sting as the boy had told her though after a few minutes the liquid cooled and soothed her boiling hand and she sighed in relief. As the cooling sensation spread it pushed away most of her anger like a summer breeze carrying away weed fluffs. Rayla managed to relax and close her eyes as she leaned back a bit in her chair. It was amazing how effective the stuff was and she was convinced it was Fae magic in this child's possession.

When the boys hands left hers, Rayla opened her eyes again to see him unwrapping a roll of soft looking, white cotton. Ezran applied the bandages with some amount of pressure which caused Rayla a minimal amount of discomfort. He assured her the pressure was necessary anand the discomfort would be gone shortly. The whole roll was used and fastened with a small pin to keep it from sliding off. It was quite bulky; more bulky and strange than her fake fifth fingers. She hated it.

Ezran nodded and for a moment admired his work before grabbing what was left of the bandages and gel and rushed back down the hall he had got them from.

Once he was gone Callum approached once again. He kept his distance this time and rubbed his arm in a nervous gesture. He stared down at the carpet and traced out its intricate designs with his eyes for while before looking up at Rayla. He gave her a cautious smile to which she she narrowed her eyes at. He looked down again and went back to tracing for a long time.

Callum took a deep breath after a while of silence, "I-It would be nice... to, uhm, not be cursed." He mumbled. "I didn't know..."

He wanted to mention the iron and the books he had read and the stories he was told as a child. The folklore he had long ago came to accept was just that. He wanted to say the word out loud only for her to confirm what he thought he now had knowledge of. He didn't say it though; he probably never would. He didn't want to feel a Fae's wrath.

Callum looked up again, "just know that I don't want you to go," he stated with a stern voice he hadn't expected to come from his mouth, "I don't believe it's good for you to go either." He gestured to her hand, "You're injured and... if what I think I know is true, you have no idea what you're doing." His heart was racing once he had finished speaking.

Rayla's head snapped up. His assumptions irked her probably just because it was her fault but she couldn't ignore the fact that with his knowledge he still gave her a choice. She wouldn't be trapped or forced into the room he had offered her in the woods. He had been kind from their first meeting, patient as well. He really hadn't known what he was doing when he gave her that cup. That was the problem, not the problem here as he now knew what she had failed at protecting, but out there with others. Others who didnt know what she was others that would shove these harmful metals in her face as it was a useful metal to humans. She hated that Callum was correct in saying she wouldn't make it. She wanted to leave, she wanted to prove him wrong and  _again_ today she was conflicted.

She was silent for long minutes as she weighed pros and cons. Callum shifted his weight from one foot to the other the whole time. He was somewhat confidant that he had convinced her to stay, though. She would have just left if she had really  _really_ wanted to. Still he stressed, he always did.

Finally Rayla looked up to him with a sigh, "please take me to my room."

Callum hid his smile as they made their way up the stairs .

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So chapter may not be consistantly because I'm unable to do a whole lot of writing durring the week cause grade 12 is stressfull. Weekends are a blessed thing so we'll aim for a chapter every week.


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